Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sama' Khan

Last night, a group of us decided to check out a concert from the Spring Festivals which happens every two years in Cairo. Every night for almost two weeks are various plays, concerts, art installations, dance shows, etc... around the city.

Yesterday there were performances by a female violinist from the Czech Republic and an Iraqi oud trio at a music hall called Sama' Khan. The concert started at 8 on but we were very late. We had the address to the venue but had no idea where it was and everyone we asked was giving us different directions. After taking a 20 minute taxi ride and walking around the city for 40 minutes, we finally saw a large gathering of white people mulling around an antique looking building and knew we made it. A great piece of advice that been passed down many generations in my head is whenever trying to find a Czech and Iraqi concert in a Middle Eastern capital, look for the trendy white people.

In any case, our timing worked out for the best. We got there right as Iva Bittova, the Czech lady, was finishing her set. I saw the last thirty seconds and I can say I'm not too bummed out I missed her. She was playing a violin while barking like a dog. Anwar Abudragh, the Iraqi trio (one of them is actually Syrian but don't tell!), on the other hand, were great. Very beautiful, classical Arabic music with great singing.

The Czech lady came out for the Iraqi trio's last song. She mainly made cat and bird noises while the oud player sang.